President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a slew of tighter level 1 Covid-19 restrictions last night in an attempt to mitigate the rise in second-wave infections during the festive season.
The country’s cumulative number of cases stands at 866,127, edging closer to the 900,000 mark. In light of the rapid rise in infections, the president said it is essential that government take extraordinary measures to contain the second wave and save lives, while working to protect livelihoods.
New Covid-19 cases spiked with the daily average of new cases nationally over the last seven days at 74% higher than the previous seven days. In this time, the number of new cases has increased from a daily average of around 3,800 to just over 6,600 a day. The daily average of Covid-19 deaths has increased by nearly 50% over the same period from just over 100 deaths a day to just over 150 deaths.